Taffy Rescue

"I need you to turn me back into the lovely young woman I used to be," she said.

"How do I do that?" Josh asked.

"Sit down, and I’ll explain to you what happened and what needs to be done.

"Years ago," she continued, "I was wandering around in a cornfield when suddenly I came upon a cute, little house. I went in, and I found two things, a sleeping little man and the most delicious batch of cookies I’d ever tasted!

"I ate a couple, then the little, old man woke up, and it turned out he was a wizard who turned me into an old woman!’’ she exclaimed.

"What does all of this have to do with me?" Josh asked curiously. By now his legs had become long, brown, salt-covered pretzel sticks, and he was very frightened.

"Just wait, and let me finish," the old woman ordered.

"Anyway, I used to be a beautiful, young maiden until the wizard turned me into this because I ate the cookies, which no one could’ve resisted. I was horrified when I found out that I could be turned back only if I found a boy made of sweets to complete the change.

"There was no way I could find anyone made of sweets, so I created a delectable, vibrant, green gum ball to change someone into sweets. The only problem is that after the gum ball is eaten, it turns you into sweets fast.

"We only have until midnight tonight on Halloween until you completely turn into lifeless candy, so we’d better get to work fast," she stated with worry in her voice.

"How do we change us back in time?" asked Josh.

"We have to go back to my cottage, and I have all of the ingredients ready to make a Reverse-Effect Taffy to change us both back," the old woman replied.

"OK, let’s get going, and, by the way, what may I call you?" Josh questioned.

"Sylvia. You may call me Sylvia," she said with an air of mystery in her voice.

Finally, they were on their way. They had gotten into her car, and they were almost there when the car ran out of gas!

"I guess I forgot to put more gas in it before I left," Sylvia said.

"What are we going to do?" Josh spat out nervously.

"I guess we’ll just have to walk," Sylvia replied.

It took about 20 minutes to walk there, and time was running out! By the time they got there, Josh felt the energy draining out of him, and he was about ready to fall over!

"I think you need to lie down and rest while I prepare the Reverse Taffy, so all of the life doesn’t drain out of you," Sylvia commanded. While Josh was resting, a sweet and fruity smell filled the air, and he slowly drifted off to sleep.

"Wake up. The taffy is complete," Sylvia said while handing Josh a bright-orange rectangle of chewy goodness. He slowly sat up and popped the taffy into his mouth, as did Sylvia.

A fantastic taste exploded onto his tongue, and the more he chewed the more energy he could feel coming back to him. s Josh looked up, he saw a beautiful woman standing in front of him.

"Sylvia, is that you?" asked Josh.

"Yes, Josh, it is me," Sylvia replied in a sing-song voice. Suddenly his licorice arms appeared as real arms. His eyes, ears, legs and the rest of him had also turned back to normal, and he was ecstatic.

"I guess it is time for you to go home," Sylvia said sweetly.

"Thank you for changing me back, Sylvia," Josh replied gratefully.

"No problem, see you around, Josh," Sylvia said.

"OK," Josh agreed. As he was walking off in the distance, he heard the faint sound of Sylvia’s voice saying, "Never take candy from strangers."